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THE 147TH OPEN

July 21, 2018

Tony Finau

Angus, Scotland, United Kingdom

Q. You came back after a slow start. Tell me about that.
TONY FINAU: Yeah, I was happy with the finish. Just gives me a fighting chance tomorrow. You never know what's going to happen tomorrow. I was well back in the pack, and I was extremely pleased to just finish whatever it was, 3-under on the last six, last five. So it would have been nice to get that one on 18, but, I mean, I feel like I got pretty lucky with the drive. It was heading towards that right bunker around the left edge of it and somehow hopped over it. To have that luck on 18 would have been nice to go, but I was really happy to finish that way. That was a big putt I made on 17 as well.

Q. That was a fast putt. Did it move at all?
TONY FINAU: I pushed it. I pushed it, yeah. Such a straight putt. Sometimes the hardest putts to hit are the ones that are the straightest. That's exactly what that putt was. It was dead straight, and I just pushed it.

Q. You weren't thrown off by that eagle of your partner, I guess?
TONY FINAU: No, not really. I love the energy. That was awesome. That's what my fondest memories so far of the British Open have just been walking up 18 and feeling that from all of the people. It's incredible honestly.

Q. Just want to talk about the eagle and what did you do on that one?
TONY FINAU: Yeah, I hit a perfect drive. I had about 165 yards to the hole. Hit a pitching wedge to about 20 feet and knocked the putt in. It was nice to see that one go.

I had to have something start going my way. I got hosed on 6 today. I hit a drive that I felt like was about where I wanted, and it just -- you know, it went right in the lip of the bunker. It kicked left into the bunker on the right. So then I could only pitch that out. And then that next one got hosed. I plugged into the lip of that other bunker. So on the same hole, I kind of got hosed twice. But it's links golf. It can happen to you. So hopefully, some of the bounces go my way more so tomorrow.

Q. Did you use your driver a little bit more today? I noticed like on 3 you used the driver.
TONY FINAU: Yeah, I used the driver on 3. A lot of the holes are momentum holes for me. Just coming off a bogey on 2. I felt like I could change the momentum right away with a good drive on 3. I hit a good one, just -- you have to be pretty unlucky to go -- to hit and go in that burn. It's a yard wide. Maybe I'll watch, and if they recorded it. If not, we'll see where the wind is tomorrow, and if I make the same play.

But you've got to be pretty -- like I said, pretty unlucky to go in that burn. Unfortunately, I made bogey today.

Q. What about winds? People say it might be windier tomorrow. Do you like to play in the wind?
TONY FINAU: Yeah, I consider myself a great wind player. Keeping it low to the ground, something I've worked on in the past years. My lone maiden win on the Tour, we played in about 30 mile an hour wind on Sunday. I think it allows you to get a little more creative, hitting shots, holding it with the wind, kind of into -- you've really got to get creative when you're playing into the wind and banking on the bounces and stuff like that. It definitely looks that way for the forecast tomorrow. So it will be a tough test for everybody.

Q. I guess you're used to that in Utah with the wind down there?
TONY FINAU: It blows a lot in Utah, it really does. There are a lot of golf courses in Park City, and every time you play, it seems like it's blowing.

Q. What about being here? You're here by yourself? You don't have any family?
TONY FINAU: It's been great.

Q. You're not saying you don't want them?
TONY FINAU: I enjoy it whether they're here or not. I enjoy them in spirit. It's great to be here. I'm enjoying the week.

Q. What do you feel when you hear people yelling your name a lot? It seems like people who don't even know who you are, they know who you are.
TONY FINAU: Yeah, it was pretty cool. I love it.

Q. You're cool with that?
TONY FINAU: Yeah, I am. I'm sort of used to it. It's part of the game at this level. When you start to get some success and stuff, you start to get a little more recognized. So it's pretty cool. You're definitely doing something right, I feel like, if people start to recognize me.

Q. One last thing: You're not that far out of it, just five or six back. I guess you still feel like -- you're good at coming from behind too. You've shown that at both the Masters and the U.S. Open.
TONY FINAU: Yeah. Again, I was extremely pleased with the way I finished. I knew I had to have a special finish if I was going to at least have a fighting chance tomorrow. So five shots back on this type of golf course with the kind of conditions we're going to have tomorrow, I think is well within reach. Hopefully, I can carry some of that momentum ahead on the back nine today and right into tomorrow. I'm going to have to get off to a better start.

But you just -- again, on this golf course, and if it starts to blow 20, 25, like is expected tomorrow, you know, making par could be a great score. So it's going to be interesting to see how it plays, but I am happy I'm in the thick of it in a major with 18 holes to go.

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